My cousin Joey just got engaged to his soul mate. He is very talented photographer. Please visit his page here. When I got engaged, Joey treated me to an engagement portrait session at The Grounds for Sculpture. Naturally, it was my privilege to use my creative skills in celebration of this event. If you’re interested in a custom watercolor engagement or wedding portrait, please e-mail me at jashmen@gmail.com or visit my Etsy shop.

Congratulations, Joey and Stacey! I wish health and happiness to you both.

Here’s an example of Joey’s work. If you’re looking for an engagement or wedding photographer in the New Jersey area, he’s your man.

I started creating video game art on a whim. I felt that I had been taking my subject matter too seriously. By painting something I considered fun, and something that had already been pre designed, I could just let myself play. It’s been almost three years since my first geek culture inspired piece. Now, prints of these watercolors are my best selling creations. If you’re interested in picking up a few prints of your own, visit my Etsy shop. I’m offering free shipping until Decmeber 17th, 2012. Just use coupon code FREESHIP at check out.

This is my second watercolor couples portrait. I really enjoy painting two people that are in love. It is my hope that more of these types of commissions roll in. The first was a wedding present, this will be a Christmas gift. Chemistry between lovers is not easy to capture, but when the paint finally catches it, the whole piece shines.

Love in Yellow and Blue. Watercolor and ink on paper. 5″ x 7″.

SOLD

Here a few process shots. I know some people enjoy seeing the work in progress.

As many of you know, I am an active member of Reddit. Every few months I participate in the Reddit Gift Exchanges. I’ve made it a habit to paint original watercolors for my random match ups. My most recent giftee is an avid home brewer and fan of craft beer. So I painted him this.

The following watercolor piece was commissioned by an old friend. It is of her and her fiance. She is framing the watercolor with their vows and giving it to him their wedding day. I am honored to have been chosen to create such an important painting.

SOLD

A photo of the gorgeous couple.

If you are interested in having a custom watercolor engagement painting, contact me at jashmen@gmail.com or through my Etsy shop. A 5 inch by 7 inch piece, like the one above, is $200.00. A 9 inch by 12 inch piece is $300.00. All I need is three weeks and a photo or two to work with. I do ship internationally.

Here are a couple of in progress shots to give you a glimpse of my process.

This watercolor lion was supposed to be a baby shower gift. The nursery is safari themed. However, I think he came out more mean than cuddly. Guess I’ll have to paint another safari animal tomorrow (one with less teeth).

Just finished a painting of Batman and Joker. I’d like to take this opportunity to show you a little bit of my process. Please forgive the awkward cropping on the following images. The painting is too big for my scanner.

Step one is a messy graphite drawing. It is quick. The point of this drawing is to decide on composition and overall mood of the piece. It also establishes a light source. Values are distribution of lights and darks. The values in the drawing are what will be employed in the final piece.

Step two is to redraw the initial sketch, but with ink. This results in a very clean, but somewhat boring, under drawing. Some people use a light board to trace the proper lines from the initial drawing. Some people ink on top of the graphite and then erase the messy pencil marks. I usually redraw the entire image. Anything you can draw once, you can draw again even better. Notice that Joker is holding a rubber chicken instead of a knife in the refined drawing.

Next is an initial light wash of color. I paint directly over my line drawing. This results in a lazy looking, lightly colored illustration. This step in essential to finishing with interesting highlights.

The next step is what I often feel is the awkward teenage phase. The colors are almost where I want them to be, but the illustration is still sloppy. The piece looks like it could be finished but something is wrong. The main purpose of this stage is to establish proper mid tone colors, and ensure my final shadows have depth.

The last step is to clean up my lines with ink and pump up the dark shadows with paint. Visual interest is added with line weight and watercolor spatters. Any fine details, like the face of Joker’s card, are drawn in. Here is the final image: